This invention relates to the repair of plastic or metal siding for houses and the like, and more particularly to a method and novel device for repairing elongate strips or panels of siding which become dislodged after installation.
It is becoming more and more customary to cover or replace wooden housing siding or clapboard with plastic or sheet metal siding, frequently referred to as vinyl or aluminum siding, respectively. This type of siding usually is produced in elongate strips or panels, which are adapted to be nailed to the side of a house in overlapping, horizontal rows, and with a rearwardly facing, hook-shaped portion along the lower edge of each panel overlying, and releasably engaged in, a downwardly facing hook-shaped portion formed along the upper edge of the next lower panel in the assembly.
One problem often encountered with siding of the type described above is that, after installation, shrinkage or settlement of the associated building or house often causes the interconnected, or hook-shaped portions of adjacent panels to become disengaged. In other words, although the panels remain nailed or secured to the side of a house, the shrinkage of the framework of the house may cause one or more of the horizontally disposed panels to shift downwardly relative to an adjacent panel, whereby the hook-shaped lower edge of the settling panel becomes disengaged from the hook-shaped portion that extends along the upper edge of the next lower panel in the assembly. This may also occur as the result of extreme changes in temperature which causes expansion and/or contraction of the panels.
When siding panels accidentally become disengaged as noted above, it is possible to correct the matter by removing and shifting upwardly the panel which has settled, but obviously this would require removal of all of the panels located above the errant panel. The cost of doing so, of course, would be prohibitive. Alternatively, the lower edge of the panel which slipped downwardly could be simply nailed against the housing to prevent it from swinging outwardly or away from the underlying panel, but this creates an unsightly and unsatisfactory solution.
A variety of siding panels and associated mounting devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,110,130; 4,054,012; 4,399,643; 4,187,661; 4,411,117; 4,356,673 and 3,226,901, but none of these patents discloses a satisfactory method or deviice for quickly and inexpensively repairing panels which have become loose after installation. Although U.S. Pat. No. 3,226,901 discloses panel mounting hooks which are hidden from view, they are used simply to secure and to support siding panels on a housing wall, but cannot be used to repair panels which have become loose, unless the panels themselves are modified in some manner.
It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive method for repairing panels of the type described which have settled or otherwise become disconnected from the next adjacent panel in a house or building covered by siding of the type described.
It is an object also of this invention to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive device which can be used to reconnect or repair housing panels of the type described when one has settled relative to the other after installation, and without repairing any modification whatsoever of the panels themselves.
Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital of the appended claims, particularly when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.